BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Institute
of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of
Medicine today commenced IHV’s
19th Annual International Meeting, which will be held
through Thursday, October, 26 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore,
Maryland. IHV’s Annual International Meeting attracts hundreds of elite
scientists who descend upon Baltimore to share ideas and inspire medical
virus research collaborations.

“Our meeting is designed to highlight cutting-edge science and provide a
rare platform for provocative discussion,” said Robert
C. Gallo, MD, The Homer & Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in
Medicine, Director, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland
School of Medicine, who is most widely known for his co-discovery of HIV
as the cause of AIDS and, along with his coworkers, for the development
of the HIV blood test. “This year’s meeting has more emphasis on cancer
from the aspects of infectious agents to advances in cancer therapies,
and there will be a special symposium on advances in viral diagnostics
to analyze recent progress made in the field.”

The meeting program’s organization was led by Man Charurat, PhD,
Professor of Medicine, Director of the Division of Epidemiology and
Prevention, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School
of Medicine. In addition to emerging concepts in cancer therapy, cancer
and stem cells, infectious agents and cancer, and viral diagnostics, the
meeting will include intense discussions on HIV “cure” research,
preventative and therapeutic vaccines, immunology and viral
pathogenesis, public health science and responses on a global and local
level, and clinical virology.

Global health representatives from around the world including, among
others, Isaac Adewole, FAS, The Honorable Minister of Health from
Nigeria, Anthony Fauci, MD, Director, U.S. National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and, John Martin, PhD, Executive
Chairman, Gilead Sciences, will focus on translating laboratory
discoveries into public health practice.

During a gala held Wednesday, October 25, the 2017 IHV Lifetime
Achievement Awardees, who are nominated and voted upon by IHV faculty,
will be honored.

“When I think of the greatest virologists in the world who are making
the most important contributions to translational medical research while
concomitantly being on the top of fundamental research on viruses, Dr.
Palese is always in the top few, if not the top of that list,” said Dr.
Gallo. “It is an honor for me to honor him for his fundamental studies
in the biology of human viruses that cause serious disease and
epidemics, most notably the influenza virus.”

The 2017 IHV Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Service will be
awarded to Quarraisha Abdool Karim, PhD, Associate
Scientific Director, Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South
Africa (CAPRISA), Adjunct Professor in Public Health, Nelson R Mandela
School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Salim
Abdool Karim, MBChB, PhD, DSc, Director & Professor for Global
Health Department of Epidemiology, Centre for the AIDS Programme of
Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research),
University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

“To me, both of these renowned individuals have made some of the
greatest contributions in the history of HIV/AIDS in public health and
epidemiology relevant to prevention and care of infected people,” said
Dr. Gallo. “I don’t know any person or persons who have done more to
advance the proper care of people with HIV infection or the prevention
of HIV infection among a population.”

In 1996, Dr. Gallo co-founded the IHV with colleagues Robert Redfield,
MD, The Robert C. Gallo, MD Endowed Professorship in Translational
Medicine, Associate Director, Director of the Division of Clinical Care
and Research, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School
of Medicine and William Blattner, MD, who is retired since January 2016
and a Member of the IHV Board of Advisors.

Since its founding, the Baltimore-based Institute faculty and staff have
grown from 50 to more than 300, and the Institute's patient base has
grown from just 200 patients to currently nearly 20,000 in Baltimore and
Washington, DC, and more than 1,000,000 in 10 African and 2 Caribbean
nations since 2004. IHV is also internationally renowned for its basic
science research, which includes the search for a functional HIV “cure”
and a promising preventive HIV vaccine funded largely by the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation and, in part, by others including NIAID.

For more information, visit www.ihv.org
and follow us on Twitter @IHVmeeting and #IHVmeeting.